Great Lakes Educators to Sail in Duluth Tall Ships Festival's Parade of Sail

Educators from Wisconsin and Minnesota will be sailing aboard the S/V Denis Sullivan as part of a unique professional development workshop offered by the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network's Center for Great Lakes Literacy with financial support from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

The six-day, five-night workshop from August 13-18 begins in Milwaukee and ends in Duluth when the Sullivan sails into the harbor as part of the Duluth Tall Ships Festival's Parade of Sail.

Five educators will be instructed by seven peers who have experience using Great Lakes science concepts and lessons in their classrooms, and by scientists and Sea Grant staff. The scientific theme of the voyage is water quality, food webs and zooplankton community composition in the Upper Great Lakes. Aboard ship, the educators will gain firsthand experience in freshwater ecology, Great Lakes maritime history and sailing, and how the Great Lakes function.

Participants will work alongside Denis Sullivan crew members on a four- to five-hour watch and will share in every component of the voyage, including raising and lowering sails, dropping and pulling up the anchor, swabbing the decks and even cleaning the bathrooms (heads).

To be chosen for the cruise, the teachers needed to provide a compelling statement about how the workshop could improve their ability to teach scientific concepts and use them in their classroom. They also had to be willing to share sleeping quarters and be able to climb and descend stairs with a 60-degree incline.